


Average Dilemmas of millennials

by OuzoAthena11



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Autistic Michael Mell, Be More Quarantine Challenge, But if I continue this, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Jenna Rolan has ADHD, Jenna and michael become friends, Michael Mell Has ADHD, Pre-Squip Jeremy Heere, being a chatterbox along with other signs is adhd, figured that fit with the gossip, i would know, the squip will be acquired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:20:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23308234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OuzoAthena11/pseuds/OuzoAthena11
Summary: Michael is just a bit surprised when his assigned partner for a class is Jenna Rolan. But he goes with it, and maybe there's friendship in the future for the two of them. Maybe not. But at least they work well together.
Relationships: Jeremy Heere & Michael Mell, Michael Mell & Jenna Rolan
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	1. Home Ec

**Author's Note:**

> So... I wrote this in like two hours... no less, I started less than two hours ago. I know I type fast but it's still weird. Prompts don't get mentioned until like 2k words in. Probably a little less. I may have gotten a bit carried away with this but this idea has been floating around my head for a while.

Michael tentatively walked into his junior home economics class. It was the first day of school, and Jeremy had not chosen the elective, so who knew who would be in this class with him? He mostly took it because his moms were nagging him to take another elective besides art or music. He wasn't interested in learning another language. Managing the ones he already knew was hard enough. He glanced around the class room, noting that it had a door to another classroom. That was probably where the baking stations or whatever was. This was just a regular classroom.

He took a deep breath and took a seat in the corner. For all that he'd wear his hood to protect himself from the outside world, he did like being able to see as much of the room and everyone in it in a quick glance as possible. He started tapping anxiously. His headphones were hanging around his neck. He pulled out a paper. It was just his standard accommodations note about how the headphones were necessary to ground him and blah blah blah. He just knew it meant that so long as the teacher wasn't lecturing and they weren't otherwise required to listen, he could listen to music. And he could do that if he had a meltdown coming on too. It really didn't matter too much, and all his classmates were too used to it to be outraged at his 'privilege' anymore.

Once the bell rang, he sat up and took another quick look around. It was a decent mix of all grades, even a couple of seniors looking quite bored. From his own grade, Michael recognized a couple of the less known guys, they weren't on his level, but they weren't really popular either. Then there was Brooke, Chloe, and Jenna. The popular girls trio. He had heard that Jenna wasn't really a part of that friendship, but she was the only one the other two truly tolerated compared to the rest of their peers. And she certainly appeared to be friends with them to anyone casually just watching.

...Michael may listen to too much gossip and be too observant for his own good. But that was just the anxiety speaking. And the autism. And the ADHD. It was a terrible combination, really. It'd be nice to just have one of those to deal with. He shook himself out of his thoughts when he registered that the teacher was talking. He'd missed part of the speech already. How long had he zoned out for? He took a deep breath and started fidgeting with his sweater as he listened.

“...and so we'll have several units based around how to, as it is said these days, 'adult', without a problem. The four biggest units with the biggest tests are the kitchen, which covers cooking and baking among many other things, basic cleaning to have an idea of how to approach any mess, money, which will cover balancing check books and bank accounts, jobs and interviews, taxes among other things, and household maintenance, which will cover how to trouble shoot issues around the house and when to call an expert. We'll also cover smaller topics like sewing, do it yourself sorts of things, and how a spouse, any children, or a roommate might change how a house or apartment looks. Those topics won't necessarily be a part of the four big units we will cover over the course of a year, but will be covered. Everyone with me so far?”

Michael nodded, hoping she was planning on passing out a class syllabus because he only caught half of those words. Some, he had heard, but had only ended up garbled in his head. He took a deep breath, and tapped the accommodations paper in front of him to steady himself. It was the last class of the day, on the first day of school, with several new classes and teachers. It was only natural he'd be close to breaking after a nice relaxing summer.

He jumped a little when the teacher reached him, passing out papers. He blushed at her raised eyebrow and just handed her the paper. She did a cursory scan and nodded to him before placing the test down in front of him.

“This is just a personality and knowledge test so I can pair everyone up into pairs that will work for everyone best.” She told him quietly before moving on to other students.

He let out of a breath of relief. “Thank you,” he mumbled. He scanned over the questions. It seemed simple enough. He answered the questions- scattered across all the topics she'd mentioned- and frowned a little at the personality ones before sighing and answering honestly. What if she put him with someone who wanted to be social every second of class? He shuddered at the thought before finishing up.

She then had them grade the questions aside from the personality ones and pass forward them to her. He was very tempted to just pull on his headphones to listen to music while she scanned through for the scores and the basic personality tests. He wondered why she did that. Did she want to pair people who knew a lot already with people who didn't know much so they could keep up? And wanted to make sure the people who knew a lot had the right personality for that? Who knew. But maybe this could possibly somehow work out in his favor.

He didn't have to wait too long; she apparently was already done. He glanced at the clock. There was only ten minutes left of class now.

“Alright. I have the pairs ready. If there are any problems, come to me, and we'll try to work things out. I want you to try to work with your partner for at least a week though before we consider shifting anything around. I have a basic kind of... project, to allow you to get to know your partner, that will be due in one week. Everyone will have a different one, so you can't cheat off of other groups.”

Michael half groaned and leaned over his desk. Great. He rested his head on his arms as he just listened for his name. Thankfully it was the first of the pairing. And his partner was... Jenna. Of all people. But then, she was the nicest of the popular girls. And she had to know how to keep secrets, no one really knew anything about her, and he had wondered if she really shared every bit of information she came across. Eh. He was probably wrong.

There was shifting of desks, people, and backpacks, until Jenna was in a desk nearly invading his personal space. His breathing picked up but he slowed it down right away, reminding himself that it was just for right now, class was over soon, and then he could be out of here. Well, after he picked up Jeremy anyways.

“Hi, I'm Jenna,” she greeted him. “And you're, Michael, right?”

He nodded.

“Any ideas why we were paired together? I don't mind, I'm actually a bit relieved. I knew most of the answers, and I know Chloe and Brooke don't and I really don't want to be paired with someone who doesn't know how to do anything... or for a lot of people to know that I'm good at household stuff. It's not 'cool' for girls to know that anymore.”

Michael stared at her hands as she talked. It was easier than watching her face and how animated she was. And way better than trying to meet her eyes. Which was just awkward.

“Um, I got most of them right... Are you...” he took a deep breath and pressed on. “Are you always this talkative?”

“I don't have to be, sorry. I just tend to chatter because there's no one to listen sometimes.”

“Oh... I... I get that. I have ADHD, so I tend to talk a lot... just at home.” He admitted. As much as he wasn't super comfortable with the idea of his disabilities getting out to the rest of the school, he kind of preferred people be aware he had them. Saved him a lot of trouble and wasted effort on potential friends if he just told them up front he was hard to be friends with.

To his surprise, Jenna lit up. “Me too! I just got my diagnosis over the summer 'cause my mom was about ready to give up on me over my difficulties with homework and stuff, and decided I needed a therapist because I must be depressed, only ya, know, it was really just the adhd. And a touch of anxiety, which was weird. I didn't think I was anxious.” She shrugged.

Michael found himself actually interested now. “Really? But isn't ADHD like, kind of obvious?” He paused then sighed before she could answer. “You should probably know that I also have anxiety, mostly generalized anxiety disorder, with a touch of social anxiety but that's usually the autism in control.”

“Oh!” She looked at his headphones like suddenly it all made sense. “I won't tell anyone you know, I just spread the gossip that's going to spread anyways, and try to control it so it doesn't hurt as much. Anyways. Well, I'm a girl so ADHD apparently is less obvious in us and a lot of girls don't get diagnosed until they're like thirty! Or fail in college, sometimes. That's just because we tend towards the inattentive side of things more than the hyperactive side. But also because girls are socialized differently because we're expected to stop being so energetic at a younger age and kind of get control of that earlier. But we're still impulsive and fidgety, and being a chatterbox is a definite indicator. But the real problem was getting homework done, I knew the knowledge, I just struggled with focusing once I was done with school, after putting a heavy amount of effort into focusing for like eight hours. And getting myself to do that, which I thought was just me being lazy but apparently since I wanted to do my homework, I'm not, it's just the ADHD!”

“Wow...” Michael responded, a little overwhelmed, but he was used to that style of talking; his mama (who was his biological mom) was the same way. And she too had ADHD. Suddenly things made a little more sense. He looked down at the paper the teacher had dropped off. “Um, maybe we should check out the project before class ends...”

“Oh, right, silly me.” She picked up the paper and frowned a bit. “What...? We're supposed to fit these things into a scenario?” She showed him. “And... write up a paper or something demonstrating that scenario? But... how does that make sense?”

“Um... Maybe to give everyone a better feel for the topics we'll be covering?” he suggested tentatively. “Like, that diner... it's different style of diner, sure, but people do have to work there. And there's a stereotype or whatever has that the waitresses wearing roller skates, not that that's necessarily relevant, but...”

“Okay, and there's a cat, so I guess that could be this person's cat... so they don't just have to worry about apartment rent and groceries and other necessities but other things cats need? What do cats even need?”  
  


“Well they need food, a litter box, litter... toys, a cat tree I think? And some people even build catios or cat runs for their cats so they can be outside without endangering the animals outside!” Michael explained enthusiastically as he pulled out his phone. He started typing in 'cat' and felt himself going a little red at the suggestions, showing just how much he searching things about cats. Thankfully, Jenna didn't comment and he quickly had a picture of a catio to show her. “Of course, that wouldn't work so much in an apartment, but cats can be trained to walk with a harness and leash.”

“You know a lot about cats, that'll make this easier.” She nodded. They started working their way down the list and eventually got to the last one.

“A furry red cape, and a muffler? What?” She frowned at that.

“A costume maybe? This person is in college. Little red riding hood maybe?”

She laughed. “Okay, that works.”

They both jumped a bit when Michael's phone buzzed.

_Yo, Mike, where are ya?_

“Uh... I guess we both missed the bell...”

“Right, yeah. Hyperfocus isn't always the greatest.”

“Yeah. At least we have a good foundation for tomorrow... see ya then.”

They gathered their things and started making their way out of the class quietly. Michael quickly texted Jeremy back as he walked, headphones now firmly on with music playing.

_Sorry, home ecs teach had a project for this first week and I got caught up with the prelim stuff. didn't even hear the bell. I'll meet you at my car?_

_Sounds good, bud. Good day?_

_Could've been better, I lost some of my spoons over the summer or something. from not having to deal with people and focus and stuff this much all summer._

_Ah right. Makes sense._

_How was your day?_ Michael fumbled with his locker as quickly as possible, cursing a bit because why the heck did there have to be assigned hallways to each grade meaning everyone moved lockers every year instead of keeping the same one all the time.

_Eh... It was just eh. Rich is in gym. Which is my last class. Like, it's an easy last class at least even if I have to pretend I'm athletic, but Rich is there. It wasn't fun. Even for a first day._

_Ah man, too much to hope that he'd grow up over the summer?_

_Apparently._

Michael was halfway to his car when he got that text so he chose not to respond. He grinned when he saw Jeremy and they greeted each other with their handshake. They then both started getting into the car.

“Dude, I can't believe we only have two classes together... And cross paths so rarely...”

“Hey, we also have lunch and that's more important than sharing classes. And once we're used to how long it takes between our lockers and classes, I'm sure we'll be able to meet up between classes more often.”

“I guess. It's just hard when I don't got my friend around, ya know?”

“Of course I do. But we can do this, not sharing classes isn't exactly anything new. Even if this is the least we've shared.”

“Ugh... just thinking about Rich has me dreading the school year.”

“Well, up for some video games at my house? I hope you don't have any homework.”

“Nothing that can't be completed in five minutes anyways.” Jeremy perked up.

And so they went to Michael's to forget about how rough the first day of school was. Just like a lot of other firsts.


	2. Ramblings of Teens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael has a day at school. In which he is getting to be friends with Jenna and more worried about Jeremy. Also there is lots of rambling. But with two of the three characters having ADHD that makes sense, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woot. I did it. The three prompts are more spread out, and the read too fast and miss it reference to two prompts is in the brief bit about Jenna and Michael's project, where there's basically just like a couple of words each so it probably doesn't count.
> 
> And it's not yet midnight yay. I think I did good. Kind of want to get to the plot of Be More Chill because I definitely have plans.

The first week of school had passed, and they were settling down into a new routine. It was a bit rough in many ways. Michael still struggled with getting overwhelmed, though he was getting better with handling it. It would take a while before he would be good at keeping any signs of incoming meltdowns out from school, and even then, he would likely still have some if things were not going well at all. That was always the biggest issue, followed by how little energy he had for anything besides video games at home many days. He had been checked for depression, but while he showed a lot of the signs of it, the therapist he saw that time (just six months previous) decided that it was likely due to difficulties with the anxiety, ADHD, and autism. And if he coped with those better he'd have more energy.

He'd decided she was probably right by the end of summer, since he had a lot more energy after the first couple of weeks. It was the only thing that therapist had been right about, though. She didn't hold the shortest record of his therapists, but when she made an off-color comment about his moms? He refused to go back. Being that it was nearly summer, his moms decided to wait and see if he needed more help. And he didn't.

Well, he kind of did. He was still working out how to cope, but it was really seeming like he needed to not be surrounded by people for eight hours or more a day. Needed to have not so many serious things to focus on during the day. Needed to get a better grip on his anxiety. Ironically, he had a better handle on his anxiety than anything else, since he countered that by being too optimistic. He didn't always deal with his feelings of anxiety so sometimes it came out at the worst times. But the autism? Feeling disconnected because of his strange interests? Sometimes being overwhelmed by sound, or things being too bright, or even smells... He wore the same hoody pretty much every day just because it was comforting, and it was just the right amount of soft. Some days he couldn't even stand the texture of jeans and just wore sweatpants so he didn't have to deal with that on top of everything.

But... everything was fine. Or it was going to be. He just had to get through two more years of high school. In college, everyone was encouraged to have their own interests. Sure there were still the jocks and all, but guys like him and Jeremy had their niche too. He could dictate his own schedule, maybe space it out so he could have an hour minimum between classes to process... It would be wonderful. And next year, in senior year, if he didn't have his schedule filled with electives like this year, he would have a whole open period, whereas if he'd had that this year he'd just be stuck in a stupid study hall trying to focus, and some study hall teachers weren't exactly nice with his accommodations so it was easier to have electives.

And it wasn't like he didn't have the option to go to special ed stuff briefly, it was even assigned as part of his morning one day of the week, despite the fact his classes went on as normal. Well, the classes he was missing was orchestra and gym, so it wasn't like he had to make up work either so that was nice. He didn't even have to deal with Rich much, though the dude wasn't exactly nice any time they bumped into each other.

He didn't exactly unload all this on Jeremy. Who knew this all already. They had been friends for far too long for him to not have an idea on why Michael might not be up to talking at the end of a school day, why Michael wasn't in the mood to put effort into more than video games. Why Michael sometimes heavily relied on weed. It just wasn't something they talked about anymore after Michael's embarrassing break down at the beginning of freshman year. Where he was feeling overwhelmed with the transition to high school and less special ed, and feeling like a horrible friend for constantly dragging Jeremy down with his problems.

Jeremy, meanwhile, was struggling because Rich seemed to be singling him out more, and was in his gym class. The perfect class for bullying to occur in, and often unwittingly encouraged by the oblivious gym teacher. He also was starting to develop a bit of a stutter in response to his growing crush on Christine, who had stood up for him once that first week.

Michael kind of felt like Jeremy was developing social anxiety. Maybe he'd always had it, but it had never been obvious before. Because this year Jeremy was starting to really yearn for not being bullied. It had always been enough, that it was just him and Michael against the world, but no longer. Michael... wasn't sure how he felt about that, but wanted to be supportive, especially since he was kind of becoming friends with Jenna? She wasn't exactly hard to be around and was a good partner for the home ecs class. So Michael was starting to throw in logic he used against his own anxiety. He didn't think it'd work. And he knew Jeremy wouldn't take it well if he suggested seeing someone about it. Not after the disaster that was a form of grief counseling for him and his dad after his mom left.

So Michael did his best to be supportive, though his own mental health wasn't exactly taking it well. Since it took a lot to be supportive of another person. But Jeremy had been supportive of him for years, even now despite them not talking about why. He was trying to return the favor, but maybe he was doing something wrong. Maybe he was doing something right. He probably wouldn't know until Jeremy blew up or something.

The first day of the second week of school. A Monday. Michael met up with Jenna outside the school almost as soon as the last class before lunch let out because she had pried a couple of details out of him, and declared she had an idea. He wasn't too sure but went along with it because well, not much else to do.

“There you are, come on.” She grinned, but thankfully did not pull him along. He followed her around the school, and across the street... to a 7-11. He blinked.

“...I never thought about this...” he admitted sheepishly.

“You said the slushies and stuff helped, right? And that lunches weren't always good with texture and stuff? Well, I figured this would help, if you have the money to do this regularly anyways.”

“Oh, I do. I... I have a lot of spending money, I just usually hoard it for my special buys or savings, and I don't think it'll be affected much if I don't buy much at once...” He started filling a cup at the slushie machine.

Jenna also filled a slushie cup. “That makes sense. It's not like its far or that'll it'll take much time. I'm sure that sometimes you'll encounter other students, but I doubt they're ever here to socialize because that's kind of ridiculous.”

“True...” Michael nodded as he capped his slushie and added a straw. “What else is here...?” He mused aloud as he wandered away to check what he could buy to get through the school day. He spotted a couple of 'freshly made' items that would make good lunches once in a while, especially on rough days. He spotted a wall of chips and checked out the flavors, noting a couple of his comfort flavors. He walked around the shelf and stopped dead, gaping.

It. Was. Empty. Completely unstocked. It was so bare. Such a weird sight to see. He wasn't sure how to react, and was now a bit annoyed and kind of anxious that he couldn't complete his mental inventory of what he could buy here. He knew that once he fell into some sort of routine he'd probably know what he wanted to buy before he crossed the street, but these shelves getting stocked would throw a wrench into that and give him last minute debating to do which he absolutely detested.

“Oh, sorry,” the bored voice of the lone worker in the store came from behind him.

Michael jumped and spun, stumbling a bit into the shelves. He winced at the stinging pain on the back of his legs but then straightened to pretend nothing had happened.

“I had to clean those shelves because of a spill. Stupid kid got it all over both shelves and the floor. Needed to reset the items anyways. If you want something that's on those shelves, I can grab it for ya.”  
  


Michael froze a bit at the unexpected social interaction and ran through several potential scripts on how to respond, unable to decide what was most appropriate.

Thankfully, Jenna was right there. “Oh, what's normally on these shelves? You see, its my friend and me's first time here.”

“Oh, I see. More of the chips, and some snack items...” the worker listed off many of the items. “I'm probably missing some though,” he admitted sheepishly.

Michael nodded slowly. “I think I'm good with just the slushie today, but that's good to know for future.” He watched carefully but there didn't seem to be any sign of discomfort or upset or anger, so he figured he got that right.

They went and paid for the slushies before walking to the school together. “Thanks for showing me that, you didn't have to.”

“I know. But you're so stressed by the end of the day, I figured I'd make it easier for you to get through it. Besides, it'll make things easier on both of us if you can function once we get to the actual doing part of the class.”

  
“Okay, you got me there,” Michael agreed. “Well, see you at class.” He waved as they split up. When he met up with Jeremy, he said he'd discovered how easy it was to get to 7-11 and buy something, but didn't specify how. He felt a bit weird about it, but wasn't sure how Jeremy would react to Michael making a friend by accident when that was basically what his best friend was yearning for most.

They had a decent lunch, consisting mostly of Michael trying to cheer Jeremy up, but it was a no go. It was seriously stressing Michael out so he had no qualms in pulling his headphones back on to go to his art class. He flipped through his playlist and selected a song and tried to relax. But worry about Jeremy, and a bit of freaking out about how he didn't exactly have time to unwind when he had to try to cheer up Jeremy all the time. But he wanted to be there for his friend like Jeremy had always been for him. It was just far harder than he expected.

He made it to class and took his usual seat, tapping his fingers in sync with the beat. He'd take out his project, but the teacher had said something about wanting to introduce them to something new that could be a good supplement to some of their projects, and he just wanted to get it over with. He wanted to just get back to his drawings and oil pastels, that was what he signed up for even if the class what about all potential techniques and methods for coloring in 2D projects. 3D was pretty cool too.

Finally the bell rang and the teacher started talking. He kept his head down and one hand over the headphones. This was one class where the teacher didn't have to convey much so he really wasn't in the mood to listen. Jeremy really had him all out of whack. He probably needed to do a proper mental health check or whatever. He had a checklist just to be sure.

He almost jumped when the materials were passed out but recovered quickly. He almost groaned when he got his share. Calligraphy. They were supposed to spend time making their hand writing all fancy. He double checked the board and sure enough, they had to practice each version of the alphabet before settling on one. They were to then write out three quotes on a fancy paper they decorated themselves, all due in four weeks. Well, it wasn't too bad. At least it was a due date a decent ways away. And it wasn't like they couldn't work on other projects some days either...

He sighed and got on with it. It was like he was back in elementary school learning cursive again. Which was stupid because they never really used it. Well, some of his classmates used it, but not all. Seemed to vary too. It was also super weird because cursive was something a lot of schools didn't bother teaching anymore, which was also kind of stupid considering how useful cursive was for some people. Just not him.

He started tracing the practice alphabets. Italic, gothic, it didn't matter that much. Gothic did have it's own appeal though, being more blocky than curvy. It was easier to get right than the fancier curves. By the end of class, he was still annoyed, but had settled on gothic as his style of choice. He packed up the supplies he could take home and moved on to his next class. Math, then home ec, then home.

Michael was feeling a little better after math. Despite how everyone else felt about it, math came easily. He never said so to Jeremy, since Jeremy hated it with a passion. But it was the one academic subject he didn't feel like a big idiot in because he kept up without much problem. Sometimes there'd be new concepts here and there it took him a while to pick up, but over all he stayed pretty well ahead of the curve, and tended to be plenty bored through the lesson. And his adhd cooperated with the focus part too, because for some reason it was easier to focus on the numbers. It was all just a puzzle, really. Like a video game. It was almost fun. And since it was fun, and interesting, it was so much easier to get through. He rarely left the class with more than three problems left. And the rare occasion he had more it was because the lesson took more than half the time of class, so way longer than usual. And since they shared the class this year, it meant he could actually help out Jeremy a bit, though he was terrible at explaining things and it was better directing Jeremy's attention to the right formulas and pointing out errors.

He took his usual spot next to Jenna, who was already there. They'd turned in their project at the end of class Friday, not wanting to spend anymore time tweaking it than they had. It had some creative liberties as to how their theoretical college student had a cat and a job at a old style diner and could afford such a cloak or even to just make one, but they thought they nailed it in the end.

Jenna gave him a smile but didn't engage, likely since he still had his headphones on. He kept them on til the bell rang then removed them because he was curious to see what they'd start off with today. The teacher took to the front of the room and waved at them all cheerfully.

“Good afternoon class! Our first unit is going to be cleaning. Because I expect you to always clean up your messes, and I want there to be no excuses. Now, leave your bags and notes in here, and follow me.” She led the way to the other classroom.

Michael was a bit alarmed. He didn't process lectures very well, he did better with visuals and something to focus on, and even then he couldn't guarantee the words wouldn't just go in one ear and out the other. But on the other hand, going to the more practical classroom meant they might actually be doing some of the cleaning themselves, and he did learn pretty well by doing (another reason math was a strong point; it was easy to learn by doing).

“I'm sure she'll have the notes for us too,” Jenna whispered. Michael jumped then nodded. Right, Jenna probably had some of the same problems, what with them both having ADHD.

They were directed to take a station with their pairs. Each station had a couple of messes already. Michael glanced over them and had a decent idea on how to take care of them. They were basically just spills and messes from the kitchen, nothing too difficult. Even the grease on the stove wouldn't be hard if they had the right product. He relaxed a bit. Of course they'd start simple. Stupid anxiety.

“I personally believe that nothing teaches like personal experience, so I want you all to tackle the messes you have as best you can. I'll come around and offer advice. And I have a packet of notes on the best ways to tackle any mess that I will pass out at the end of class.”

Michael fully relaxed at that. This wouldn't be so bad, even working with Jenna was the fine. She was the best partner he'd ever been paired with, aside from Jeremy of course. Jenna seemed to be full of energy the way she was bouncing besides him, but he knew the feeling, and it was likely more the need to move than actually having the energy.

“Cleaning materials are under the sink stations, with extras in the cupboards under the window. Good luck everyone!”

Everyone started scrambling to get going.

“So what do you want to do first?” Jenna asked.

“We should probably soak some of these things, then tackle the rest?”

“That's what I was thinking.” Jenna reached the sink first and started pulling out their supplies. Michael took to organizing them and then started spraying down the things with the spray he knew would work on each dry mess.

Jenna joined him and then they worked in silence for a bit. It was a surprisingly comfortable silence, since silence tended to be pretty jarring. White noise didn't exactly make Michael feel comfortable which was why he resorted to music so easily. And the dull roar of voices around them wasn't exactly nice either, but it was still nice to work with someone quietly.

The teacher passed over the station, gave them a quick compliment and moved on. They exchanged smiles and fist bumps because that was nice.

“I think we do make a good team,” Jenna grinned.

“Yeah, it certainly helps that we both have a better idea of what to do... My moms always expected me to clean up after my messes if I made one in the kitchen.”

“My parents too. Of course, I always stressed that I was missing something, it couldn't be as simple as wet a washcloth and wipe it up, and I wasn't technically wrong because there's all these little ways to mess up but my parents weren't exactly wrong either, it is basically just that but there's so many details like squeezing out the washcloth first.”

“Yeah, my moms learned to show me step by step for a while before they started encouraging me to figure it out on my on based on messes I cleaned up before. They were probably less picky about my need for details than most because I was diagnosed with autism pretty young, and ADHD happened at 10 when they realized not everything could be explained by autism.”

“That's pretty lucky.”

“Yeah, I am.”

A beat of silence.

“Okay, as nice as it is working with you, I can't stand it being silent especially with the noise of everybody, so I kind of just need to talk.” Jenna held her breath.

“I don't mind, just don't expect me to be fully engaged.”

“Okay, that's fair.” There was another beat of silence. “Okay, so I saw an eerie picture of a forest road and there was a lot of fog, and I can't remember if the road was paved or not but it was so creepy. Like, I kind of would like to explore it but I imagined it would be super quiet and stuff? Like would I actually be interested in exploring that if I wasn't actually in a car and protected? Probably not. But at the same time it was so cool. Just the way the fog hung around the trees and such, and how it looked untouched aside from the road and the trees were just... super tall. Way, way too tall. Probably pine trees or some other evergreen but still... I would want to be there, but not want to be there, you know?”

Michael nodded. “Yeah. I think I do. I'm not super into outdoors stuff, it leads to uncomfortable textures sometimes, and more new stuff than just being inside does, but I would be intrigued by that image. How'd you even come across it?”  
  
“Tumblr. Pretty sure it was actually a writing prompt. But of course it got me thinking in a totally different direction. I certainly wouldn't know my way around the woods like that.”

“Writing prompts are supposed to be thought provoking...”

“But in a creative fictional way, and here I am speculating about what it would be like and if I'd be interested in it. I'd probably love to be on the road through that forest. It was kind of pretty, and the way fog acts is pretty interesting, but I'd be terrified to drive an unknown road in the woods with fog like that that's for sure.”

“Me too. Kind of reminds me of road trips my moms liked to take when I was younger.”  
  


“Really? What changed?”

Michael shrugged. “Well, it was always kind of difficult since I do have autism and such so being out of routine sucked for everyone, so I think they decided to give it up until I was better able to handle it when I was like... 9? 10? And then mom got promoted and now she has to go all over the country all the time, and the hospital needs mama a lot more now that she's considered their top trauma surgeon, so she tends to get called to the hospital even when she's supposed to be off.”

“Oh, you must get pretty lonely.”

“It's not that bad. Mom's rarely gone for more than a week at a time, and is always home for a week or two between trips, sometimes as much as a month. And Mama does her best to be home when she's out of town, she refuses to be on call then. But then, as a top surgeon, she does occasionally have conferences overlap with Mom. They'll be out of town for a week at the same time next month, I'm not sure when. But then, I am better equipped to handle the constant changes. And I'm actually kind of used to it now.”

“Wow. You don't think it's like... negatively affected you?”

Michael shook his head. “No, I don't...” he paused. “Okay maybe, but only because they're not around so much when I need advice or comfort, Mama often has weeks of night shifts, and weeks of day shifts. 'cause trauma happens at all hours of the day. But... It's not really as bad as it sounds. Even if it does make me feel bad sometimes, but I'm not going to ask them to stop because they're happy being a family, and they're happy with their jobs.”

“That makes sense. I-”

“Ten minutes left of class. Don't worry if you're not done, I have a list of who has what station. This will be your regular station for the rest of the semester and probably the year. I will make notes and advice for anyone who does not finish, particularly on how to be more efficient with your time next time. I'm not going to grade you. This time. Next time I give you cleaning to do... There will be grading involved. And when it comes to the tests, not all of those will be with your partner so make sure you both know what to do. I will hand out the packets on your way out the door when the bell rings.”

Jenna and Michael looked at each other then down at their station, surprised to realize they basically just had the stove left. They exchanged a grin and went right to it, scrubbing away at the stubborn marks.

“I don't know if I could handle it as well as you, and my parents work the traditional 9-5 hours, and I still feel like I hardly see them. Well, technically, they go in earlier or get off later because of lunch but they can do either so long as they're on the clock during those hours. But yeah. Pretty sure they have boring desk jobs. I'm not sure what I want to do, but not that, they seem so disinterested in everything, even themselves.”

“Oh. I'm sorry. It's... weird hearing about other situations? I tend not to think about it much because it's always just been me and Jeremy, so I've never had to think about it. And like it's not the first thing that comes to mind when I think about why some of our classmates are the way they are.”

They finished up and started putting the cleaning supplies away.

  
“Yeah, it's super easy to just look at the surface and not think to deeply. Especially for you, right? I know autistic people feel empathy, but there is some issue there, right?”

“You're right... basically, unless you actually properly explain how you feel or your view or whatever, I'm stuck seeing it from my side. It's... It's like when you're watching a good movie, and spend the whole time cheering for the protagonist and hating the bad guy because the bad guy does horrible things and obviously does so because he has evil goals. But then there's that scene that gives you backstory and it's like... Oh. Cool motive, still murder. But... I get it. Not sure how I'd avoid going evil with that too.”

“Oh, so, tunnel vision?”  
  


“Yeah. Also, a bit of out of sight out of mind too. Like if it's not directly in my face, I have no reason to think about it. And with my anxiety, I kind of have to try to take things as surface value or I end up worrying about everything. So I intentionally try to force myself not to think about things too much? It's harder with friends though.” Michael added with a frown, thinking about Jeremy. “Especially since even with someone I know well, I can't always understand what's going through their head to make them act that way.”

“Oh. Okay. I think I have a bigger picture. I get a bit of that too sometimes. Like, I forget about things super easily but as soon as it pops up again, I remember and feel horrible I forgot. Not quite the same, and I think everyone to some degree has issues seeing things from other people's point of view, but I can see how not really being able to think of it if its not explained to you makes it much harder than it is for other people.”

Michael nodded. He would've responded, but the bell rang. The school day was over. It was time to find Jeremy and go home. And figure out how he was getting through the rest of the week. At least both of his moms were home this week. His mom was leaving on Sunday though, and mama was on 6am-6pms this week. Next week she was on the opposite schedule again. She'd been getting more day shifts lately so he hoped that continued.

They collected their papers and their bags and bid each other good bye as they headed to their lockers. Michael hummed under his breath to the music. Explaining even a little of his frustration with Jeremy, no matter how tangentially related helped. Maybe one of his moms would have a better idea. He really should ask them. No matter how much he'd gotten used to solving his own problems. Yeah, he'd ask them.

Meanwhile, he had a friend to cheer up. And the moment he caught sight of Jeremy, he winced. “What happened dude?”

“Basketball to the face. Rich, of course.” Jeremy grumbled, walking along side Michael. “And the gym teacher just told me to keep my eye on the ball, be more coordinated, and even offered advice on how to get better! As if that would help when Rich deliberately does things like that.”

“Well... it would help keep you from nasty bruises?” Michael offered.

“Well... I suppose.” Jeremy grumbled further. “And now we're walking home.”

“Yep. Because mama's on day shifts, and mom's home, so they have both the cars this week. Mama's on nights next week so I'll be able to drive then.”

“Why can't dad just let me drive?”

“Maybe because it took you three tries to pass the drivers test?” Michael suggested. “And it's not like he doesn't let you drive in the afternoons.”

“Yeah, but he never leaves the house. He never even puts on pants. He's home when I get home, and ugh. He does nothing.”

“Pretty sure he's still doing his job or he wouldn't be getting paid,” Michael pointed out. “You'd be in serious trouble if he hadn't been doing his job for the whole time since your mom left.”

“...I guess. But he's always in a bathrobe and boxer shorts! I don't get how he can do his job in that!”

“Well he wouldn't need pants for a video call and he probably throws on nice tops and stuff for the calls and then goes more comfortable afterwards.”

Michael knew he had said something wrong by how Jeremy clammed up, but wasn't sure what. It wasn't like his dad working from home was actually that big a deal. He had a job he could afford to do it with, and he was taking care of his mental health after his wife walked out. It made sense to him. And he was the same as ever whenever Michael was over. A bit more subdued, a bit more frantic sometimes, and trying his best to pick up the slack with cooking and such on his better days, which were occurring more and more often.

He withheld a sigh. That was of course another touchy subject with Jeremy, and apparently he didn't even know how to navigate it well. He decided not to push it because Jeremy clearly wasn't interested, but it still bothered him because he could tell that Jeremy's dad pushed himself too hard sometimes. Sometimes when Michael was over, he could tell that there was a sudden effort to clean, and then Mr. Heere would kind of be dead the rest of the night aside from attempting to cook or ordering in pizza and checking in on them like a normal parent would. Michael actually worried he wasn't eating enough sometimes and would make a point to leave a pizza box or some slices within easy reach.

But... that was a topic for another day. Jeremy was now kicking at the sidewalk sullenly as they walked. Michael tried to come up with something to talk about and there was only one thing he could think of. After all, Jeremy was in his math class and his world history class.

“So in art today we started in on calligraphy of all things. It's not too bad I guess? And it is pretty artistic, and 2-D. And it really could supplement some 2-D arts but it's just not my style and now I have four weeks in which I have to practice it a lot. All these different versions of calligraphy, and then I have to come up with like three quotes to be all fancy with, and that's just going to be... ugh. I don't think he'd approve of my first thoughts.”

“Eh, he likes Star Wars right? Just watch The Last Jedi and do some quotes from that.”

“Do I look like I want to be murdered? He hated that movie. I mean, I can get why, and he's been a fan forever, and I hope that's not going to make him stop cosplaying Darth Vader every Halloween, but no. Last Jedi is not a movie I can take quotes from. But... I guess one Star Wars quote would be good... Thanks.”

“Wait, he seriously hates that movie?”

  
“Yeah, and? It's nothing new... Although you weren't in my art class last year to hear the rant. I'm pretty sure he's only going to go to Rise of Skywalker if it fixes the problems with the Last Jedi. So... Probably not going to happen.”

“...I think I'm glad I missed the rant.”

Chatter about the Star Wars movies filled up the rest of the walk home. It was nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this chapter would be shorter but first Michael and Jenna wouldn't shut up, then Michael and Jeremy wouldn't shut up and I had to end it kind of awkwardly because I was running out of ideas.
> 
> Oh side note, I went to a private, Catholic high school. Eight years ago now. So my story draws from that experience that's a distant memory. Yes, I had an art teacher who loved Star Wars, and last time I ran into him he told me he wasn't interested in the new trilogy anymore after the Last Jedi. And yes, he'd dress up as Darth Vader every Halloween. It was awesome. Great teacher, even though I wasn't super good at art myself. 
> 
> There was no home economics course at my high school (we did have senior workshops though which was cool), so I'm making things up as I go, deciding that the teacher is determined to pass on actual life skills so is not actually traditional.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Really hoping I get to writing more... Anyways, for writing updates and general information about me, check out ouzoa11-writes on tumblr. I'm trying to get to be a bit more consistent but it's been rough for reasons I'll specify there... tomorrow. After some sleep. My eyes are blurring a bit.
> 
> Side note- I have generalized anxiety disorder, ADHD, and social anxiety. And depression, but honestly that tends to be negligable so long as I take care of the other three properly. I also have a provisional autism diagnosis, meaning I may or may not be on the spectrum, but they didn't test me properly enough to give me a diagnosis. So some of this is me projecting onto both Michael and Jenna. Which whatever, I don't do that normally but I'm doing it now because that's kind of how I view them after weeks of mulling the musical over.


End file.
